Keeping in mind the outrage over the huge price hike for older drugs like Daraprim, a plan for the purchase and massive price increase of a critical drug for the treatment of rare tuberculosis has been reversed.

Cycloserine was earlier known under the brand name Seromycin. Developed in 1955, it is considered as an 'orphan' drug, which is a special category of medications to treat rare diseases. In this particular case, to treat an odd, stubborn and life-threatening multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) which doesn't respond to the two first tuberculosis treatment drugs.

In August, Rodelis Therapeutics purchased the rights to Cycloserine from a non-profit named The Chao Center, which belongs to Purdue Research Foundation that targets small-batch rare and orphan pharmaceuticals.

Under the deal, the Chao Center has requested that Rodelis maintain a viable supply of the drug, providing it to patients who were not able to afford it at low or no cost, so that they can continue the drug if necessary.

The CDC said that MDR TB cases accounted for less than 1.5% of TB cases, with just around 95 people nationwide in 2013. Prior to the proposed sale, the Chao Center had produced enough of the drug for around 40 to 60 patients every year.

According to the New York Times, when they came to know that Rodelis has planned to increase the price to $10,800 for a prescription of 30 pills, from the existing price of $480 for the supply, they urged that Rodelis should return the rights to Cycloserine. Both the companies mutually agreed that the deal would be cancelled and the rights were returned to Cycloserine.

Dan Hasler, the president of the Purdue Research Foundation, told the New York Times, "We discovered literally on Thursday the strategy that had been undertaken. We said this was not what we had intended".